System of motor control.



, .Patented lune I90I. 1 A. a. DAVIS." 1 SYSTEM OF MOTOR CONTROL.

(Application filed Mar. 5, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

W I m Jnventbrr m: NORA: PETERs ca. Puma-Lima. wxsuma'rom D. c.

No; 676,305. Patented lune ll, l9fll.

A. a. DAVIS. SYSTEIIUF MOTOR CONTROL.

(Application filed In; 5, 1900.)

(No Iodal.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Jnventolt flaw/2 1 M hour's rri'l'm 0:1,, muraurua, wunmumn, n. a

UNITED STATES ALBERT G. DAVIS,

PAT NT OFFICE.

SYSTEM OF MOTOR CONTROL.

SPECIFICATION forming'part of Letters Patent No. 676,305, dated June 11, 1901.

A plicati fil d, March 5, 1900. Serial No- 7,262 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT G. DAVIS, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county ofSchenectady, State of New 5 York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Systems of Motor Control,

(Case No. 1,009,) of which the following is a 5 trolling theoperation'of motors on a plurality of cars constituting an electrictrain may be: divided into two distinct classes, in one of which thecontroller-contacts are separately operated by a plurality ofindependent actu- 2o ating devices and in the other of which thecontrolling-contacts for each motor equipment are mounted on a commonsupport operated by a suitable actuating means. Whichever system isemployed it is essential for successful operation'of a train that thecontrollers on the separate cars shall be soactuated that a given set ofmotor connections in the motor-circuit will be made simultaneously onall of the cars, and while this result has 0 been successfully attainedin those systems 7. in which separatelyactuated contacts are employed ithas been thus far impossible in those systems in which thecontroller-contacts for each motor equipment are mounted 5 on a commonsupport to secure a synchronous operation of the several controllerswithout resorting to complications which render the system objectionablefrom a practical standpoint. I

My invention relates to a system of the class in which the contacts foreach motor equipment are mounted one common support, and has for itsobject to provide a simple and effective system for controlling theoperation of the various controllers in a train-control or similarsystem and at the same time one which will insurethesimultaneousoperation of all the controllers in a step-by-step manner. In theaccompanying drawings, illustrating an embodiment of my invention,Figure 1 shows, diagrammatically, my system asap+ Figs. 2 and OFSCHENEOTADY,NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF NEW YORK.

In Fig.1 the conductors 1 to 14, inclusive,

represent the conductors of a train-control system, the said conductorsbeing shown of a length sufficient for a single car and pro- .vided at;their ends with connecting devices V1 to 14:, inclusive, by means ofwhich they are connected to similar conductors on the. other cars of thetrain in a manner now well known in the art. M and M represent themotors constituting a car equipment, R the resistance,.which is commonlyused in connection with a motor-controller, and O the controller bymeans of which the resistance ,R and the motors M M are connected inVarious circuit combinations. The letters M M indicate the mastercontrollers, placed one at each end of the car and similarly connectedto the train-conductors l to 14. The controller on the right is shown inoutline merely, while the one on the left is shown in development, itsfixed contacts being indicated by the small circles 1 to 14", inclusive,audits movable contacts by the rectangles 1 to la inclusive. The movablecontacts are shown developed on a plane surface, as is customary inillustrating such a structure, although in actual construction themovable contacts are commonly.

mounted upon a cylinder, so that by rotation of the cylinder they may besuccessively brought into engagement with the fixed contacts or brushes1 to 14, inclusive. SB indicates a storage battery connected at one endto ground and at the other end to the train-conductor 1, it beingoffcourse understood that all the storage batteries on the train aresimilarly connected. Each of the storage batteries is kept continuallycharged by current supplied from the main source of supply through atrolley-shoe T and resistance BR. Whenever any one of themaster-controllers is moved so as to bring its fixed and movablec'ontacts into engagement, the several storage batteries supply currentin multiple through the contacts of the master-controller to theactuating devices of the several motor-controllers in a manner to behereinafter described. The motor-controller 0 comprises a plurality ofmovable.

contacts (1 and a plurality of fixed contacts 6, the contacts shownbeing adapted for the seriesparallel method ofcontrol, although theparticular type of motor-controller used has evidently nothing to dowith my inven- 'tion. The movable contacts cl are shown developed on aplane surface, although in actual construction they would be mountedupon a cylinder supported on the shaft 8, by

means of which the said cylinder is rotated. The shaft 3 is supportedfrom a frame F by means of the bearings 13 B B? and is moved step bystep as the master-controller is operated in a manner hereinafter to bedescribed. This shaft islongitudinally mjov-;

. S and on the other to the coreof an electromagnet At the other end ofthe controller-shaft, between the bearingsB and B, there are provided anumber of devices or arms m to m, inclusive, through which motion istransmitted to the shaft from the electromagnetic actuating devices 0 toc, incluslve.

' Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, .it will be seen that each of thesetransmitting devices consists of an arm enlarged at one end to surroundthe shafts and' at its other end pro,- vided with a latch com prising abeveled head 0, supported by a shank which is squared, asv shown'at p,at its lower end and which engages a square hole in the end of the armm, a' nut i being provided at the lower end of said shank and a spring1' being inserted be-,

tween the head 0 and the face of the arm 'm.

Thearms 'm, to m, inclusive,- are uniformly spaced around the shaft 8,so that the latches carried thereby occupy the positions shown in. 2.When the several motor-controllers are being operated from any one ofthemastiQITrQQHtK'OllQI'S, the shaft 8 will be maintained by theelectromagnet in such a .position that the latches on each of thetransmitting d'eyi ces 'm, to m, inclusive, will be in alinement withthe levers F to Z, inclusivenvhichare directly connected to and operatedby the Qoresofthe several electromagnetic actuating devices ,and thesaid transmitting devices will therefore be inoperative relation totheir corresponding actuating devices. The shaft 8 is also provided withan arm m carrying a latch similar in construction to those carried bythe several transmitting devices 1 and adapted to engage in the full-onposition of the controller astop L, projecting from the frame F. 'Aspring S is provided for returning the motor-controller to its offposition whenever the electromagnet c? is denergized bythe breaking ofthe circuit supplying current thereto at the master-controller. Theframe F, supporting the motor controller contacts and the transmittingdevices, is fastened inany convenient position on the caras, forexample,-on the under side of the carbodyan d the electromagnets of theactuating devices are supported in sucha position. as

shown in Figs. 2

= ver Z shown in Fig. 2.

to be inoperative relation to the said control ler, the partsbein gmounted, as shown in Figs.

2 and 3, on a common support G, which. may

represent the bottom of the car. The actuating devices comprise each alever l, loosely mounted on the shaft 8 and held against 1on at theother end in operative relation to an electromagnet c. Thiselectromagnet, as shown, is of the iron-clad type and has a head 2;projecting toward the movable core h, a and at its lower portion isprovided with a non-magnetic bushing between the movable core h and thelower frame of the electromagnet. A rod w, of non-magneticmaterialbrass, forexampleisfastened to the cor-eh at its upper end, andthis rod carries at its upper 7 end a check-nut or, also of brass, whichwhen the electromagnet is not energizedrests" against the upper head ofthe rnagnet and maintains the lever l in a definite initial position.

resting against the uppersurface of the le- The latches of the othertransmitting devices will lie eachv behind its correspondingactuating-lever, the said latches being regularly spaced onebehind theother, as

Normally the spring S maintains the-shaft 's of the controller in itsextreme right-hand position, with th'elatches of theseveral'transcorresponding l'evers'; but when any one of themaster-controllers ismoved into its first operative position, with themovable con-f tacts l and: .2 engaging the corresponding tionillustrated in Fig. 1,):acircuit-is'closed from the train-conductor l,to which thepositive terminals of the storage batterieson. each .of themotor-cars are connected, through the fixed contact 1 andcrosseconnected contacts 1 and 2 of the master controller to thefi-xedcontact 2, train-conductor 2-, and thencein multiple through theelectromagnets c on the several motor-cars to the conductors 15, to

ground, and back to the negative terminals of the several storagebatteries. Each of the electromagnets 0 will therefore'be energized andthe shaft 8 of each of the motor-controllers will be movedto the leftinto the position shown in Fig. 1. If now the master-controller is movedinto its second operative position current will bestill suppliedthroughcontacts I 2 and 1 2)" to the electromagnet 0- but in thisposition another circuit is closed through the movable contact 3 tofixed contact 3 and train- In this position the latch of thetransmitting device 'rn will lie in the position and 3, with itslo'ngfside quitting devices outof alinementwiththeir,

'fixed contacts 1 and 2-, (this being the posiconductor 3, whencecurrent will flow through the energizing-coil of the electromagnet c tothe common, conductor 15 and thence to ground. The electromagnet c willtherefore be energized and its core be drawn up. The

in its full-on position by the latch on the taste 3 ;'1agement with themen on the transmittihg side of the lever Z and will slide over thesame, compressingthe spring 7' until in the final position of the leverL it will have snapped back into its normal position on the upper sideofthe lever Z When the mastercontroller is moved into its thirdposition,

the electromagnet 0 will be energized, and bymeans of the lever Z andthe transmitting de- Vice m the shaft swill be moved through anotherstep, the latch'of the transmitting device m snapping over the lever Zso as to be in a position to be operated by the said lever' when themastercontroller is moved into its next position; As themaster-controller is'th'us' moved the actuating devices Will besuccessively energized, each device moving the motor-controller into acertain definite position until in the position of the controller marked14 the lever of the last actuating de-.

vice will be operated and the latch on the holding-arm 121 will becaused to engage the fixedstop L. With the controller in its finalposition 15 the electromagnetic actuating devices 0 to c, inclusive,will all be deenergized and the controller will be maintainedholding-arm m. It now the controller is brought to its ofi position, thecircuit supplying current to the electromagnet 0 will be broken as thecontacts 1" and 2* leave the brushes 1'2, and the spring S will draw theshaft 3 back nntil'the latch on the hold ing-lever m 'no longer engagesthe stop L,

when the spring S, which has been put under tensionby the revolution ofthe controllershaft, will throw the controller back to its zeroposition, in which position it will be held by a lug (not shown)with thelatch of the transmitting device m lying in such a posi energized it'will engage the upper surface of the lever P.

It is of course to be understood that the master-controller M, fromwhich the several motor-controllers are operated, may be situated in anydesired position on the train and that in'it-s operation it servesmerely to connect the several train-conductors to the source ofcurrent-supply, the corresponding actuating devices ofthe controllers onthe several cars being connected to the same train-wire, so that theywill'be simultaneously operated. It is also to be noted that in'theoperation of the master-controller only two of the electromagneticactuating devices 0 to 0 inclusive,

are in operation at the same time, the first being thrown out of circuitas the third beyond it is beingicut in. It'is'of coursepossible to soarrange the contacts of the mastercontroller that the circuit to any oneactuating device is brokenas the circuit to the suc- As the leverceeding'device is completed; but in order to insure successful operationand to permit the. controllerhandle to be moved with considerable speedit is advisable to elongate the contacts of the master=controllerin themanner shown. 7

In'the embodiment of my invention which I have shown I have providedactuating de-. vices equal in number to the numberof steps through whichthe motor-controller is to be moved, and 'I have provided a deviceindependent of the actuating devices for holding the controller only inits full-on position; but it is evident that I may, if desired, operatea number of transmitting devices from a single actuating device andprovide holding devices at any desired positions of themotor-controller. For example, the transmitting devices m m m and mmight be combined in the same structure and operated from the lever ZSimilarly m m m and m might be operated from the lever Z and m m m, andm operated from the lever L Similarly the holding'device "m might beconstructed with a plurality of arms carrying latches adapted to engagethe stop L both in the full series and in the full parallel position ofthe controller. a In' this case the contacts of the master-controllers'Mwould be so arranged that in the full series, as well as in the fullparallel position, all of the actuating devices would be open-circuited.

While my invention is especially intended for controlling the severalmotor equipments of a train-control system, it is also applicablewhenever it is desired to control a number of motors simultaneously oreven when it is desired to control a single motor or motor equipmentfrom a distant point. Also it is obvious that the system ofconnections'and details of construction may be widely varied or modifiedwithoutdeparting from the spirit-of my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, istion'that when the electromagnet c is again 1. Incombination, a controller comprising fixed and 'movable contacts, acommon support for said movable contacts, a series ofseparately-actuated devices for moving said controller, step by step,through a series of operative positions, and means for succes sivelyoperating said actuating devices.

In combination, a set of fixed contacts, a cylinder carrying a set ofmovable contacts adapted to engage therewith, a plurality of independentactuating devices for moving said cylinder, step by step, through aseries of operative positions, and means for successively operating saidactuating devices.

3. In combination, a cylinder carrying'electric contacts, a plurality ofelectromagnetic devices for operating said cylinder, each of saiddevices being adapted to move said controller-cylinderthrough a portiononly of its full'movement, and means for successively energizing saidelectromagnetic devices.

4. In combination, a motor-controller comprising fined and movablecontacts, ac, on 1- I D move said controller through a portion only monsupport for said movable contacts, a plurality of electromagneticdevices for operating said controller, each of said devices beingadaptedto move said controller cylinder through a portion only of its fullmovement, a source of current-supply, and means for successivelyenergizing said electromagnetic devices from said source.

5. In combination, a controller, a plurality of independent actuatingdevices for said controller, separate electromagnets for operating vicescorresponding to a particular operative for operating said controller,means for separately and successivelyenergizing said electromagneticdevices,and means-wherebyeach electromagnetic device when energizedoperates to move the controller into a definite operative position. I

8. In combination, a motor-controllercomprising fixedand movablecontacts, a common support for said movable contacts, aplurality ofactuating devices for shifting said movable contacts through a series ofoperative positions, eachof said actuating devices being adapted to movesaid common support through a portion only of its full movement, andamaster-controller operatively connected to saiding'constructed andarranged to successively ing adapted to move the controller through aportion only of its full movement, a trainline to which the windings ofthe electromagnetic actuating devices are connected,

and a. master-controller connected and arranged to supply currentvsimultaneouslyto the windings of the corresponding electromagneticactuating devices of the several controllers.

10. In a train system, one'orrmoremotorcontrollers each having itsmovable contacts mounted on a common support, a plurality of separateactuating devices operatively related to the common support of each con-"controllers each comprising a set'of, fixed coni acts and a set ofmovable contacts'mounte'd I on acommon support,a plurality of separateelectromagnetically-actuated devices operativel'y related to the.movable contacts of each I controller, each of said devices beingadapted to move said controller through a portion j 1 only of its fullmovement, a plurality .of trainconductors. to which the windings of. theelectromagnetic actuating devices are connected, }.'and amaster-controller for controlling the troller, each of said devices.being'adaptedto of its full. movement, a train system to which theseparate actuating devices areoperatively. connected, andamaster-controller connected and arranged to simultaneously operate; the

corresponding actuating devicesof the sev- ,eral controllers 11. In atrain system, one or more motorconnection between a sou-roe of, supplyand a said conductors. v v

12. In combination a controller, means tendi'ng to maintain saidcontroller in its off position, aplurality of independentactuatin-gdevices for said controller, a. fixed stop, devices i fortransmitting motion, from any one of" said actuating devices to saidcontroller, a holdjing device, means, whereby the operation of I any onetransmitting device will bring arr-1 .other of said devices intoengagement vwith 1 i its corresponding actuatingdevice,and means 7whereby certain ofsaidactuating deviceswill lbring said holding deviceinto engagement with said fixed stop. v

.13. In combination, a cylinder carrying electriccontacts', a shaftfort-evolving said :cyli-nder, a plurality of independent, actuat ingdevices, arms on the'shafteach adapted to, engage; with, a correspondingactuating de- 1 Vice, means normally maintaining said arms I in aninoperative position with respect, to said actuating devices, and meansfor bringing "said arms intoan operative position.

actuating devices, said master-controller be- 14. In combination, ashaft,a plurality of independent actuating devices,- arms correspondinginnumber to said actuating devices carried by said shaft, and latches onthe said arms, the said arms being so related to the several. actuatingdevices that a movement ofone arm by its actuating, device will bringgthelatch of another arm into engagement with its correspondingactuating'device.

15.v In combination, a controller-,a plurality of independent actuatingdevices, means fortransmitting motion from any one of said actuatingdevices to said controller, means for controlling the relative positionsof said actulatingdevices and said transmitting means, so that, in oneposition, the said transmitting means will be inoperative relation tothe corresponding actuating devices, and means for returning saidcontroller to its zero. position whenever said transmittingmeans are inan j inoperative position. I 16., In combinatiomacon-troller,,aplurality f of independent actuatingdevices, a fixed-stop,

means for transmitting motion from any one of said actuating devices tosaid controller, means carried by the controller for actuating saidfixed stop, means for controlling the positions of said actuatingdevices and said fixed stop with respect to said transmitting means andsaid engaging means, so that in one position they will be in operativerelation and in another position inoperative, and means 10 forreturning. said controller to its zero position Whenever saidtransmitting means and said engaging means are in an inoperativeposition.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 2d day of March,1900.

AL-BERT e. DAVIS:

Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, MABEL H. EMERSON,

